Silver Rainbow
by Corano
Summary: The quiet journey of a boy and his search for peace.


The Dragon Master entered the cave reverently. Left at the entrance was a day's worth of battles, stresses, and management. Clair's breaths were soft and peaceful as she made her way to the hut in the middle. Many within her family expressed their dependence on the Dragon's Den, for it was a chain that kept them down to earth. The taming of dragons was so difficult it yielded, besides the dragon itself, a confidence that often stretched into arrogance. Justified arrogance, perhaps, but it did little to convince skeptical trainers that often insisted that dragons weren't _that _difficult to train. Clair often showed no mercy in the battles that followed such remarks. The trainers were convinced after that.

Atop her surfing dragonair, Clair began her weekly reflections, hastily reciting the Dragon Tamer's Oath before lapsing into fragmented thoughts. Gold came first. Little wonder, because Clair was still bemused by her loss to him. Months had passed, but Clair was not one to forget, because dragons did not forget and to tame a dragon one must think like a dragon. Lance had lost to the boy as well, but _her _match with him _was _close and she had almost _tasted _victory on her lips before Lance ended it in one fell swoop—

Breathe. Reflect. Decide.

Clair shook the thought out of her head like a tauros shaking his head of flies. Dragons were primordial beasts, capable of toppling mountains, and from what all the Dragon Masters before her could tell, they abided by three rules: breathe, reflect, and decide. Dragons acted in the here and now, not in some faraway place only Celebi knows about. Reflections were brief and objective, leading to a decision. So Clair banished those thoughts and suddenly realized she had reached the hut.

The _boy_ was here. Not Gold, the other one.

The sides of Clair's mouth turned down, but she otherwise showed no external reaction. "Silver."

Silver was looking over the lake, next to his feraligatr. The two were completely silent, absorbed in the lake. Clair realized too late that the two were deep in meditation. Silver was attempting to connect to the heart of his feraligatr.

The words had already escaped her lips, however, and Silver turned around, eyes half-lidded. "Clair," he said, face blank and tone proud, "I didn't think you'd interrupt me like that." He smirked, eyes still blank. "Must've been out of shock from seeing the raw power coming off of me."

Clair snorted as she dismounted her dragonair. "Wise guy, you've got a lot to learn if you want to beat me. Haven't you noticed?" She gestured ostentatiously around herself, walking closer. "I've only officially lost once in the past year, to your… acquaintance."

Silver's face was imperceptible, but Clair saw his eyes narrow. "With all due respect, Dragon Master, Gold won by sheer luck."

Clair scoffed, waving her hand. "You cannot be serious about that, wise guy. Do not try to hide it. You have lost to him several times. At least I knew when to stop challenging him."

Silver looked down, fists balled up. But whether it was the qualities of the Den or some imperceptible change in character, Silver loosened his fists and muttered something.

"What? Speak up," Clair said. Even the quietness of the cave did not help.

Silver's voice was barely above a whisper the second time. "He… he has power. I'll give him that. But what you don't understand is that _he_—"

Silver seemed to catch himself and turned away immediately. "Forget it. What do you know anyway?"

Clair narrowed her eyes. "…You are talking to one of the strongest gym leaders in the Johto-Kanto State."

"But not the strongest." Silver had turned back, smirking again. "The eighth gym leader in Kanto was a former Champion."

"Yes, wise guy, I remember that. I fought a Champion too, you know."

Silver shook his head, his smirk turning into something else entirely. "But you really don't understand…that guy is powerful. I went to Kanto for some of the badges and he was the hardest. I lost almost immediately, and he offered me a chance to learn under him, and—" Silver caught himself again and the smile fell from his face.

Clair's puzzlement was evident in her furrowed brow. The former Champion was not exactly the kind soul that, say, Bugsy was. Then again, the past instances she had seen him were almost all in League interviews dated almost four years ago. Clair had seen violent dragons turn peaceful after love and care. This was not a stretch.

More puzzling was Silver's sudden…_enthusiasm_. She had only seen the boy smile during that unofficial battle between Lance, herself, Gold, and him. She knew the boy wanted power. But _why_?

"What are pokémon to you?" Clair asked slowly, thoughtfully watching the boy.

Silver was caught off guard. "Why do you need to know?" he asked, scowling.

Annoyance bubbled at her, but Clair smiled. "It's clear to me that you have grown between the last time I saw you and now. Whether or not it's clear to you is, I guess, up in the air. But tell me. What are these strange and powerful creatures to you?"

Silver said nothing, so Clair continued. "Forgive me for prying, wise guy, but it seems to me that your thirst is for power. The dragons taught me long ago that to thirst for power is to search endlessly, ceaselessly. Well…" She thought back to her earlier thoughts about Lance. "I still have a lot to learn."

Silver said nothing for several seconds. His feraligatr watched him curiously. Glancing at his pokémon, Silver started slowly, "…Pokémon are my partners. I learned a while ago that they have feelings, and hopes, and dreams, and they're smart, too." He patted his feraligatr on the head and it growled affectionately. "I had no power as a kid. For a few years, I was wandering Johto without a pokémon, or even a home. I had to scavenge in towns and forests. But I've come a long way, and I'm not stopping now." Silver, with his crimson hair and crimson eyes, grinned. "I've got someone to prove wrong."

_Perhaps his search for power is a search for comfort_, Clair thought. It certainly was to her.

Clair nodded. "Silver, you have a ways to go. You still haven't beaten me, for example," she said, grinning mischievously.

"I have something to take care of first," Silver said, acknowledging her comment with a nod. "Call me weak, but I have to patch myself up in a way." Confused but not wanting to pry again, Clair nodded and turned to leave. "And, Dragon Master…"

"Hmm?" Clair said, turning around.

"Never speak of this to anyone or I will crush you." Silver hissed, glaring as harsh as a dragon. Clair inwardly flinched but smirked and nodded. "Of course, wise guy. I won't lose anyway." Feeling particularly cheeky, she did something she hadn't done since she was ten and stuck her tongue out. Silver stared at her in confusion before waving her off. "What…? Stuck-up trainer-slayer does not stick her tongue out. Begone."

Satisfied, Clair left the sanctuary, and Silver watched her go, fingering the feather in his pocket.


End file.
